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I said this on another tread, but you couldn't be more wrong. More than 100 documented NASA technologies from the Space Shuttle are now incorporated into the tools you use, the foods you eat, and the biotechnology and medicines used to improve your health.

Things we now take for granted, like the common home smoke detector and cordless tools have grown out of technology derived from the space program. More recent technological developments include a miniature implantable heart assist device based on space shuttle fuel pumps and protective clothing that can be used for a variety of applications based on spacesuit technology. The list actually goes on and on...

The list actually goes on and on...

Yep. Don't forget Teflon and Kevlar.

"More than 100 documented NASA technologies from the Space Shuttle are now incorporated into the tools you use, the foods you eat, and the biotechnology and medicines used to improve your health."

My husband and I have discussed this many times over the years. Anyone have a link to a list of the benefits we've gained as a result of the space program?

"Things we now take for granted, like the common home smoke detector and cordless tools have grown out of technology derived from the space program."
Would you or NASA have us believe that we wouldn't have cordless tools or smoke detectors if it weren't for the space program? Give me a break.

"Things we now take for granted, like the common home smoke detector and cordless tools have grown out of technology derived from the space program. More recent technological developments include a miniature implantable heart assist device based on space shuttle fuel pumps and protective clothing that can be used for a variety of applications based on spacesuit technology. The list actually goes on and on..."

Most (maybe all) of these advances resulted not from what we've learned in space, but from what we learned while pursuing space.

I think the Space Shuttle program was a compromise between those of us who want to really go for it and explore space and those who don't want to spend as much or distract us from the many earthly problems they see (but want to keep jobs in Florida and Texas. So, we have had to force ourselves to get excited about the shuttle and the kids' experiments (one key experiment on Columbia was looking at how fast ants tunnel in sand when in space) it is carrying out. I think NASA realized the public might start to question some of these things so they started to go celebrity and multi-cultural: "Teachers in Space"; John Glen (whow!look how old he is!); and an Israeli!!!

Hopefully, we'll rethink the whole Shuttle fixation, and start pressing the envelope again: the moon should belong to the USA (we got there first) and we should start having people live there, and build a giant telescope, and possibly assemble a spacecraft for more distant manned travel.

Things we now take for granted, like the common home smoke detector and cordless tools have grown out of technology derived from the space program.

Yes, but not primarily from the wasteful Shuttle program. This is, like "silverlizzard" said, a politically correct PR program and not real achievement as with the Mercury 7. Let's save the money from the doofy Shuttle trips ($600m per, i believe) and just built the inevitable "Moonbase Alpha" already. We can mine there all we want too, without any pesky wildlife to excite environmentalists to block it. And let's go to Mars already, enough of stupid orbits. Privatize contractors to fix hubble and other satellites. MARS! We can put all the Muslims there.